Microsoft boots modders off Xbox Live

One year after it warned that Xbox 360 owners who've modified their consoles would be kicked off Xbox Live, Microsoft today confirmed that a percentage of subscribers have indeed been given the boot.

Modifying an Xbox 360 to play copies of games is “a violation of the Xbox Live terms of use”, Microsoft warned on 13 November 2008, adding that such actions will void your console’s warranty and see your access to Xbox Live rescinded - permanently.

And it seems Microsoft wasn’t peddling empty threats, because the software giant today told Register Hardware that “a small percentage” of Xbox Live’s “more than 20m members” have been kicked off the service.

The company refused to tell us exactly how many Live users have had their access blocked, but figures circulating online suggest that roughly 600,000 members have been affected - a reasonable figure given Microsoft’s “small percent” of circa 20m subscribers figure. The 600,000 figure is equivalent to three per cent of the Live subscriber base.

It’s unclear if the confirmed cut-offs were made en masse during the last few days or spread across the seven years that Xbox Live has been in existence.

Register Hardware isn’t aware of Sony ever kicking PS3 modders off of the PlayStation Network – the firm’s version of Xbox Live.

However, a legal case was last month brought against Sony by a PSN gamer kicked off the service after it was alleged that they persistently using racist and homophobic language. ®